WAR IN UKRAINE – The EU will support
\nUkraine for as long as it is necessary in its war against Russia, European
\nCommission president Ursula von der Leyen told a press briefing on Thursday,
\nheld jointly with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. This is the
\nthird visit to Ukraine the EU official has paid since February 24, the start of
\nthe invasion. Meanwhile, Russian shelling continues on the ground. President Zelensky
\nsaid cities and settlements recaptured by Ukrainian troops were found destroyed
\nby the Russians. The Government has condemned the attacks, saying they come in
\nresponse to Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the northeast. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
DECISION – The Romanian Government
\nhas passed a draft law on protecting the IT systems of public authorities and
\ninstitutions in the context of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Thus, the
\nGovernment will have all central and local authorities replace the Russian
\nanti-virus software and apps for fear they may be used as spying tools by
\nMoscow. The draft law, initiated by the Ministry of Research and Innovation, is
\nin line with similar decisions taken by countries like Germany and Italy, which
\nhave decided to replace the Kaspersky anti-virus software used by public
\nauthorities in order to prevent any cyber-attacks from Russia.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
ENERGY – Romania’s gas
\nstocks for the winter will exceed, by the end of this week, the minimum level
\nof 80% set by the European Commission, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu has
\nannounced. According to Minister Popescu, Romania has enough stocks to get
\nthrough winter, although there will be a complicated period in the entire EU,
\nwith uncertainties related to Russian gas supplies. Virgil Popescu said the new
\ndecree on capping the price of energy could be modified to support people whose
\nlife depends on oxygen devices that use a lot of energy and thus exceed the
\nceiling set by the law in force. The Government has also announced it considers
\ngranting bonuses to those who want to save energy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
FUNERAL – Buckingham Palace
\nhas provided more details about Monday’s state funeral of Her Royal Majesty
\nQueen Elizabeth of Great Britain. The first religious service will take place
\nat 11 AM at Westminster Abbey. Some 3,000 guests, including heads of state,
\nmembers of the royal family, high-ranking officials and representatives of
\nhumanitarian organizations are expected to attend. The coffin will subsequently
\ntravel to Windsor Castle in western London for a second religious service. In the
\nevening, the Queen will be entombed at the George VI chapel as part of a
\nprivate ceremony. Romania will be represented by president Klaus Iohannis. Her
\nRoyal Majesty Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania and Prince Consort
\nRadu, will also attend. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
EUROSTAT – The highest share
\nof the population exposed to the risk of poverty and social exclusion at EU
\nlevel was last year reported in Romania (34%), followed by Bulgaria (32%),
\nGreece and Spain (both with 28%), the Eurostat reports. By contrast, the lowest
\nshare was reported last year in the Czech Republic (11%), Slovenia (13%) and
\nFinland (14%). In 2021, 95.4 million people were at risk of poverty and social
\nexclusion, accounting for 21.7% of the population, a slight increase compared
\nto 2020 (94.8 million people, tantamount to 21.6% of the population). Last
\nyear, some 73.7 million EU citizens were at risk of poverty, 27 million faced
\nserious financial difficulties and social exclusion, while 29.3 million lived
\nin households with very low work intensity. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
THE POPE – Pope Francis on
\nThursday sounded the alarm against the domino effect of military conflicts on
\ninternational relations at the end of the end of a religious summit hosted by
\nKazakhstan that urged leaders to refrain from warmongering. On the sidelines of
\nthe 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions
\nhosted in the capital-city Nur-Sultan, representatives of 50 countries and
\nvarious confessions adopted a joint statement urging world leaders to abandon
\naggressive and destructive rhetoric which leads to destabilization of the
\nworld. Participants said extremism, radicalism, terrorism and all other forms
\nof violence and war have nothing to do with true religion and must be rejected
\nin the strongest possible terms. The statement also promotes the dignity and
\nrights of women and the improvement of their social standing as equal members
\nof the family and society. (VP)<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[37037,34400,37038,29663,37036,36572],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-106173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-energy-stocks","tag-eurostat-report","tag-funeral-of-queen-elizabeth","tag-pope-francis","tag-russian-software","tag-war-in-ukraine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n